Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 3 (January 29)

Greetings!

We had a great class this week.  At the beginning of the class, I asked the class to pray for my daughter.  She has mono, and she had called me that morning to say that she thought she might have bedbugs in her dorm room because her feet were covered in small bumps.  I'm glad to report that she's doing better, and that the issue wasn't bedbugs but she has a sever allergic reaction to some meds that her doctor gave her.  A hearty "Thank you" to them for agreeing with me in prayer!

I changed the seating for the class this week.  It seemed to help give more order to the class time, and helped students focus on the lesson rather than on each other.

Our Quick Write was in recognition of a well-known author.  January 27 was the birthday of Charles Ludwidge Dodgson, more commonly known as Lewis Carroll.  He was a member of Christ Church and told stories to the daughter of the dean, Alice.  These stories became Alice in Wonderland.  For the students' own writing, I had them write about some place that they could imagine as the perfect place -- either real of imaginary.

We had more Latin roots for Words of the Day:

cave -- L. hollow -- English derivatives:  cave, cavity, excavate, cavern, cavernous, excavator

capio -- L. take, seize -- English derivatives:  capture, captive, captivate, captain

The Rough Draft of the Narrative Essay was due this week.  These essays are easy because they can tell a story of their own, but they can be hard because coming up with a thesis can be challenging.  My plan is to sit with a cup of tea and read these while the men of the family watch the Super Bowl tomorrow.  I'll have them back to them next week so that they can revise them.

We talked only a little about our literature selections for this week.  We talked through the beginning Chapter 3 of The Strange Adventure of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, discussing line by line.  

We spent a lot of time discussing our Grammar topics.  My goal was to work through the comma rule regarding placing a comma following introductory elements and subordinate clauses.  In order to talk about this comma rule, we had to begin with simple sentences and dependent/subordinate clauses and then move on to subordinating conjunctions, compound sentences and then complex sentences.  Fully knowing commas can be a rather complicated process.

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Chapters 5 & 6 of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde

-- Answer 2 questions for Chapter 5 and 2 for Chapter 6

-- Finish the back of the worksheet about Introductory Elements (1 - 10: 11 - 20 for extra credit)

This week's Links:

-- Class Notes

-- Introductory Elements Worksheet

Have a great week!

Mrs. Prichard

Introductory Elements & Commas Worksheet

1.4 – Introductory Elements

·         If a sentence does not being with the subject, it may open with an introductory element that tells when, where, how, or why the main action of the sentence occurs.  Separate that introductory element from the main part of the sentence with a comma. 

·         Use a comma following phrases that begin with if, when, although, because, and similar words.

·         If the introductory element is short, and the sentence cannot be misread if the comma is omitted, you can omit the comma.  Introductory prepositional phrases are not set off by commas unless it is necessary for a clear understanding of the sentences meaning.

EXERCISES

Underline each introductory element and punctuate the sentence with the appropriate commas.  Be careful to look also for other places in the sentence that require commas. (Hint:  Not all sentences have introductory phrases, and some are compound sentences.)

1.      Discovering the book under the chair she went to the den and read until dinner time.

2.      When I couldn’t find the cookies I ate an apple but my brother ate some candy.

3.      Driving home from the party Paul and I got lost.

4.      Feeling sick Debbie complained about going to school and her mother let her stay home.

5.      Before my aunt came from Chicago we bought tickets to the community play because I was in it.

6.      Agnes gets out her skis whenever it snows.

7.      I think I will go out for dinner when Tom finishes his chores.

8.      After they finished their breakfast they took the dog for a walk and I did the dishes.

9.      Because the road was glazed with ice many cars slipped on the highway and ended up in the ditch.

10.  When I looked through the newspaper I couldn’t find the article she told me about, but I had already seen the information online.

Compound-Complex Sentences

The video is a little long, but it has a very explanation of the types of sentences and the necessary commas.

Dependent Clause Love Story

This may seem a little corny, but it gets its point across.

Series Comma Worksheet

1.8 – Items in a Series

Use a comma to separate words and phrases in a series.  Present usage advocates the use of the comma before and connecting the last two words of a series; some writers, however, prefer to omit the comma before and.  This comma is called the “series comma” or the “Oxford comma.”  When etc. ends a series, it should be preceded and followed by a comma.  Use commas to separate pairs of words in a series.  Use a comma between adjectives preceding a noun when they are coordinate qualifying words.

Examples:

·         The vendor sells hot dogs, pretzels, hamburgers, and soft drinks.

·         For my birthday I got a sweater, a pair of gloves, a hat, and several other items.

·         Last week a sale of chairs, beds, desks, etc., was advertised in the newspaper.

·         Official and nonofficial, national and state agencies attended the convention in Boston.

·         The boss agreed on a form for a shortened, simplified uniform report.

EXERCISES

1.      It makes me wild mad  crazy and frustrated when teachers give too many assignments about commas.

2.      Your bother dropped by with your suitcase blanket lamp books and box of junk.

3.      The corn beans squash tomatoes and various things I don’t recognize are coming up in the garden.

4.      If you’re going upstairs please carry this basket of clothes the pile of mail and whatever those things are over there in the corner.

5.      He collected stamps from Great Britain Ireland Spain France Italy Switzerland and Germany.

6.      We toured the quaint old mining town in Flagstaff, Arizona.

7.      For our picnic, I packed peanut butter and jelly ham and cheese and egg salad sandwiches.

8.      My mother washed by favorite brown flannel shirt.

9.      I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go to Florida California Texas or Mexico for spring break.

10.  My parents cousins neighbors Mr. Smith and Miss Larson came to my recital.

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 1 (Januarly 22)

Greetings!

We had a productive class yesterday.  Students were alert and engaged in our discussions and during instruction.  Sometimes students can be a little sluggish after 2 long classes and a lunch break, but they are really doing a great job.

Our Quick Write was in recognition of National Popcorn Day that was on January 19.  I had the students write about either their favorite salty snacks or something popcorn-related.  

Our Words of the Day were the following Latin roots:

amo/ami -- fr. Latin "to love" -- derivatives:  amiable, amicable, amorous, enamored

aqua -- fr. Latin "water" -- derivatives:  aquarium, aqueous, aqueduct, aquifer, aquamarine

audi -- fr. Latin "to hear" -- derivatives:  audiotape, auditory, auditorium, audiophile

Following these beginning of class activities, we quickly discussed the progress on their first essays for the semester.  This first writing assignment is a Narrative Essay.  These can be a bit tricky; students understand the part about telling the story, but doing it with a thesis is sometimes harder to comprehend.  The Pre-Write was to be done this week, and the Rough Draft is due next week.

The next order of business for our class was our Grammar discussion.  I went over again the elements of a sentences.  In order to know where you put the comma for a complex, compound,  or a compound-complex sentence, you need to understand what independent and dependent clauses are. And you need to know what subordinating conjunctions and coordinating conjunctions are.  You see, learning where to put commas also involves learning a lot of other bits of grammar. 

The next comma rule deals with the comma used in lists.  This is often called the series comma, the serial comma, the Oxford comma, and the Harvard comma.  The Oxford, etc. comma is the final comma that is inserted before the conjunction and the last word of a list.  Take this sentence, for example:  I like to eat cookies, brownies, cake, and pie.  The comma between the words "cake" and "and" is considered the serial or Oxford comma.  Students have a worksheet to go with this lesson.  By the way, the syllabus has this week's lesson as "Introductory Elements;" I switched it for something a little simpler since I considered the previous lesson a little more challenging.

Our discussion about our book, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, centered on the character development of Mr. Utterson, Mr. Enfield, and Mr. Hyde.  The language of the book is not overly difficult, but the students have encountered some vocabulary that is a little challenging.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Read Chapters  3 & 4

-- Read through the Study Guide questions.  We will discuss these in groups next week.

-- Complete the Series Comma Worksheet

-- Rough Draft of the Narrative Essay

-- EXTRA CREDIT -- Bring to class an article about the Oxford comma.  Extra points if you bring an article that discourages/disapproves of this comma.

This week's links:

-- Class Notes

-- Series Comma Worksheet

-- Dependent Clause Love Story video

-- Compound-Complex Sentences video

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde -- Vocabulary Worksheet

INSTRUCTIONS:  For this book, the students will compile their own vocabulary lists.  As you read each chapter, make a list of the unfamiliar or interesting words.  Fill in the table below with your words. 

	Page	Word	Root	Definition